wrangler

American  

[rang-gler] / ˈræŋ glər /

noun

1. a cowboy, especially one in charge of saddle horses.

2. a person who wrangles or disputes.

3. (at Cambridge University, England) a person placed in the first class in the mathematics tripos.

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wrangler British  

/ ˈræŋɡlə /

noun

1. one who wrangles

2. a herder; cowboy

3. a person who handles or controls animals involved in the making of a film or television programme

   a snake wrangler

4. (at Cambridge University) a candidate who has obtained first-class honours in Part II of the mathematics tripos. The wrangler with the highest marks is called the senior wrangler

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Etymology

Origin of wrangler

1505–15; wrangle + -er ¹; wrangler ( def. 1 ) originally horse-wrangler, probably partial translation of Mexican Spanish caballerango groom, stable boy, with -erango suggesting wrangler

Example Sentences

Celebrity crocodile wrangler Matt Wright will spend five months in prison for tampering with evidence after a helicopter crash that killed his co-star and left the pilot a paraplegic.

From BBC

When the event’s signature balloons were introduced in the late 1920s, wranglers simply released the larger-than-life characters into the sky.

From The Wall Street Journal

For now, the reporters are relegated to lower press — where a wrangler admitted in writing that they cannot speak on the record for the administration.

From Salon

Famed Australian crocodile wrangler Matt Wright has been found guilty of lying to police and pressuring a hospitalised witness after a fatal helicopter crash.

From BBC

Garcia appeared in the first movie as an animal wrangler; in the new film, he plays a chef.

From Los Angeles Times

Related Words

• breeder
• herder
• herdsman